Prep Football: Lena-Winslow bests Chicago Leo for state berth

Saturday

Nov 23, 2013 at 5:44 PMNov 23, 2013 at 9:07 PM

By Joey BaskervilleThe Journal-Standard

LENA — Chicago Leo couldn’t stop Tyler Oakley.

The Lena-Winslow running back flew past the Lions, scoring twice on 70-plus-yard scampers, as the senior totaled 306 yards and three TDs on the ground. The Panthers pounded Leo en route to earning a state title-game berth in a 45-22 win.

Le-Win won its first state football championship in 2010.

“I’m at a loss for words,” said Oakley, in an attempt to describe what it meant to earn a state title berth. “I love these guys so much.

“There’s no words to describe it. It’s just amazing.”

The Panthers stellar offense was jump-started by a 49-yard run by Oakley, which set up a 16-yard TD run by Jace Oleson for a 7-0 lead over the Lions. Two plays later, Leo quarterback Latrell Giles’ tipped pass was intercepted by Colton Drye. Fullback Hank Holm bouldered his way in for a 2-yard TD, which gave the Panthers a 13-0 lead just before the end of the first quarter.

After forcing a punt on defense, Oakley turned on the afterburners, galloping for a 77-yard TD. Oakley delivered a decisive stiff arm to defensive back Theodore Hopkins Jr. before dashing the rest of the way to the end zone.

“I definitely had to get him off of me in order to score,” Oakley said. “Hopkins is fast, so I had to get him off of me.

“We blocked well on the edge and just found some little creases. I knew I had to turn it on quick.”

The Panthers defense stifled the Lions most of the game, getting after Giles in the backfield. Gus Werhane had a sack and forced fumble on fourth down late in the first half, which set up Le-Win quarterback Ben Moest’s 9-yard TD pass to Luke Schubert for a commanding 25-0 lead.

“Defensively we knew what they were going to run and knew their formations,” Schubert said. “We could tell when they were passing and running.

“We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”

Oakley coughed up a fumble to begin the third quarter, but atoned for his error by gashing the Lions for a 76-yard TD. A 9-yard score put the game all but out of reach, 38-0.

Leo scored all of its 22 points in the fourth quarter on three TD passes to Riley McClendon-Gray. But the damage was done.

Nothing could stop the Panthers from reaching the state championship game. Le-Win will play Downs Tri-Valley in DeKalb for the state crown at 10 a.m. Friday. The Vikings upset Maroa-Forsyth, the defending 1A state champion, 14-6.

Downs Tri-Valley and Le-Win share a common bond heading into DeKalb. Few expected them to make it this far.

“At the beginning of the year a lot of people doubted us,” Schubert said of Le-Win. “A lot of people even doubted the playoffs for us.